Africa Beyond Africa
Under the title 'Africa Africa' the programme will involve visual and performing arts and education elements from many of the African commonwealth countries.
In announcing the programme James Porter, Director of the Commonwealth Institute said: "Africa, Africa' is a natural develop- ment in the way in which the Institute has been working in recent years with the festivals of Sri Lanka and India. We are very enthusiastic about the possibilities of mounting a wide variety of exhibitions, performances, debates and discussions with our African partners, including Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and to exposing in many other ways through- out this period the contemporary issues which concern Africa as a continent".
Opening the programme in May a comprehensive book exhibition with the title 'Africa beyond Africa' and an accompanying contextual seminar explore the influence of African culture throughout the world and are followed in July by an exhibition on the literature of Zimbabwe and one in the autumn on Nigeria.
A conference, 'New Directions in African Literature' is scheduled to take place in November to which critics and writers from many Commonwealth countries have been invited. This is being organised in conjunction with London. the Africa Centre, where the second 'Bookweek Africa', a book fair bringing together publications from all Galleries. over Africa, will be taking place at the same time.
Film and television are featured with a Nigerian film week and an African Television Workshop which will combine showing of programmes with intensive seminars providing an opportunity for participants to meet with producers and directors.
Highlights amongst the visual and performing arts programme include an African Music Village taking place from 20th July-4th August, largely in the open air setting of Holland Park with traditional musicians from many different African cultures giving concerts and workshops. In the early part of the programme, there will be Kwag-hir story-tellers and puppeteers from Benue State in Nigeria. Later in the year the Art Gallery will be filled with an exhibition of West African woven textiles combining brilliant colour with flawless technique to achieve many visually stimulating effects.
The programme as a whole takes place in the context of the total renovation and updating of the permanent African exhibits in the Institute's Main Galleries. Previously presented on a country by country basis, there will now be a continental exhibit, and an emphasis on a regional story, expressing the progress of individual countries towards independence in the context historically, geographically and culturally of their region. Work is currently underway on this major reconstruction, entailing temporary closure of some parts of the Galleries; the finished result is scheduled for unveiling to coincide with the opening of the programme on 1st May.
It is expected that all the exhibitions will be updated before the gallery is re-opened because almost all the exhibitions have not been touched since they were first put up more than twenty years ago.
The Deputy Director of the Institute explained to a group of "African media" people that the Institute had been in active consultation with individual African Commonwealth nations through their High Commissions in London
The new look exhibition is expected to attract more people to the Institute's Galleries
AFRICAN FOOD AT AFRICA CENTRE
The Africa Centre, under the auspices of the African Women's Confederation, is hosting a discussion on African food by African women on Saturday February 4th, 1984 at the Africa Centre in London.The other topic to be discussed is "can there be communication between literate and illiterate African women?" A release from the centre says the discussions will begin at noon and end at the
CDG-GDM-WEST GERMANY - ANNOUNCEMENT
The Executive Committee of the CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY IN GHANA (CDG) - WEST GERMANY, in consultation with the Area Representatives and registered members, wish to announce that, following a communique signed between the Executive Committee and Delegates of GHANA DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (GDM) on the 18th of December 1983 in Hamburg, the independent CDG-WEST GERMANY, has AFFILIATED with the GHANA DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (DGM) under the chairmanship of Mr J.H. MENSAH, the Former Minister of Finance in the 2nd Republic of Ghana.Accordingly, the name of our organisation CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY IN GHANA WEST GERMANY has been changed to GHANA DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (GDM) -WEST GERMANY. All former documents are still valid.
This important step was taken to strengthen the existing unity among concerned Ghanaians in Europe and to intensify our activities towards re-establishment of democratic rule in Ghana.
We appeal to all interested persons, groups and sympathizers, to send all enquiries, letters of sympathy, donations and contributions to:
THE HEAD OFFICE,
GHANA DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT, (DGM) - WEST GERMANY, c/o WIR INT. ZENTRUM eV., SCHUMACHER STRASSE 94, 2000 HAMBURG 50. WEST GERMANY. TEL: 040/383652.
